When Does It Become Too Much?

I just finished reading Crank by Ellen Hopkins. The protagonist, Kristina -- she also calls herself Bree-- is a confused teenager, whose life starts falling all at once. Kristina finds a new side to herself, who she calls Bree, who does the thing Kristina would never do. Crystal meth. This Kristina messes around with boys, and stops caring about the rest of the world. She practically lets go of all the good she has. In the end of the book, she gets pregnant, and slowly starts trying to take the control of what she describes as "the monster" had taken from her. All of this brings up the question, when does all of this become too much?

Lots of parents ban this book from libraries, saying its inappropriate for youth. I however disagree. It was not my favorite book of all time. I felt like it could be really frustrating to watch Kristina "throw her life away," but that also adds to some of the power of the book. This book is important for developing minds to learn about so they can earn about it before being stuck in a bad situation.

Whether parents approve it or not, it introduces a part of the world to youth they haven't seen before. By hiding something and never letting them learn about it, only increases the temptation. To really see how something like this drug could affect somebody has a lot of power over the reader. If you were to be offered something like this and you didn't know what it was or what it could do to you, then you could be putting yourself in a lot of danger.

Kristina was introduced to a world she didn't know she had connection to. She was questioning herself and under the pressure of others to become this person who she didn't feel like she knew. She didn't know the side of her she called Bree. Whats unfamiliar to us we want to learn more about. This book shows you that side. You can't go out and live it like Kristina, but you get a better understanding of it. You see what it does to people, and you don't have to experiment because you know.

Being a young teenager, I understand questioning what you have, and wondering what makes you the happiest you could be. Kristina was taken over by a "monster" when she started crystal meth, and thought that would make her happy. Instead she had to fight it to get herself back. However I haven't experienced something this serious, I still go through stuff. I've questioned the types of people I want to associate myself with and who I'm going to be when I'm older. But by reading literature with lots of information about the bad things going on in the world, I'm capable of figuring out the good I want, and the bad I want to stay away from.